A New Image: Online Communities to Facilitate Teacher Professional Development

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Lock, J.V. (2006). A New Image: Online Communities to Facilitate Teacher Professional Development. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 14(4), 663-678. Chesapeake, VA: AACE.
Retrieved from http://www.editlib.org/p/21030.

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Journal Information

Journal of Technology and Teacher Education
ISSN 1059-7069
Volume 14, Issue 4, October 2006
Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE)  Chesapeake, VA

More Information on JTATE

Author

Jennifer V. Lock, University of Calgary, Canada

Abstract

Realizing the potential of online or virtual communities to facilitate teacher professional development requires educators to change their current perceptions of professional development. This calls for educators to develop new images of ongoing opportunities for professional development, based on their needs within an online community of learners and their recognition that communities may include individuals from local regions and from around the world who share mutual interests and goals. The realization of online learning communities to facilitate teacher professional development is a matter of carefully and deliberatively designing dynamic learning environments that foster a learning culture. This requires a pedagogical framework that nurtures the establishment of relationships, intimacy, and trust, where people engage in shared learning experiences mediated through technology. Designing an online learning environment that fosters the development of a learning community is not about adding technology on to current professional development practices. Rather, it is about designing, building, and supporting a structure and a process that are purposeful and fluid in nature and in meeting the personal ongoing professional development needs of teachers.

Keywords

• Virtual Environments
• Community
• Teachers
• Educational Technology
• Professional Development

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